TPOCT round 4-3: Whales, foxes, and danger. Oh my!

Switching back to Sammy's form, and enjoying the blessed quiet Striker had left behind, I made it back to the hall Lee was left in only a few seconds. My mind was spinning with the questions I was going to have to ask Andy, and wondering how far back in the wristband Striker had been pushed, but now wasn't the time for that. And luckily my mind had plenty of distractions ahead of me. Lee was there, still in Aras' form, and she was right by the door to the stairwell. But she wasn't hiding from the camera's now, she was surrounded by...were those...zombies? They were decaying, disgusting creatures, but they looked half human half animal. Zombie werewolves maybe? Either way they had some nasty looking claws, and they were closing in on Aras-Lee. She fired off some shots and scored a couple of hits, but they were getting too close too fast.

I didn't have much time to think, just react. It was going to take me too long to form Sammy's staff, and Alto didn't have the physical power to go up against zombies...but I knew someone who did know how to handle the power of werewolves. Andy's warning echoed in the back of my mind but I didn't have any better choices.

I ran and tackled one of the wolf zombies that was about to jump on Lee, the heavy muscles in Striker's arms adding plenty of power to the punches I delivered to its misshapen face. Lee startled a little but grinned and took the free second she had to make a switch on her watch. Sundog took Aras' place standing there, and even with zombie guts all over my fists I took a moment to enjoy the familiar presence of a dog. Of course as the zombies started closing in the heat that somehow rolled off of Sundog-Lee got pretty intense, I was glad I couldn't feel it as strongly in Striker's form.

“It's addictive isn't it?” A quiet, distant voice called from the back of my mind. It was Striker. “Not having to feel anything at all.”

I shook my head, trying to keep my focus, he was quieter now at least. Once I was sure the first zombie was down I ran at another one, drawing Striker's dagger and making stabs at the head, hoping all those zombie movies were right. Sundog-Lee started a run at another group, melting some of their decaying skin as she went and, I kid you not, took offflying them. Sundog can freaking fly, where can I get one and can I have ten?

Striker's dagger sank into my zombie's head, even as its claws opened up new wounds down my arm, and it went still after a moment. I gave the dagger a good twist just to be sure and jumped up, ready for the next one. I don't really know what gave me the idea to have twisted the dagger, it had been almost a reflexive motion.

“You and I really aren't so different. After all you must have had a little darkness inside to make me.” Striker's voice was again almost a whisper in my mind. “Let your instincts take control.”

I felt myself shudder, gripping the dagger tightly in my hand. In some ways...Striker was right, wasn't he? There was that little dark pit within my mind, that place that I tried to bury behind optimism and happy thoughts, but it was always there still the same. My darker characters bubbled up from that pit, that pit that hated the weak, emotionally fragile little girl that had created it.

The group that went up against Lee tried their best to pile on and weight the Sundog down, but were met with nothing but sizzling flesh and soon they fell still on the ground. Sundog-Lee growled as any got close, ramming her flying form into zombies or biting at their necks as they realized getting close wouldn't work. Something grabbed me from behind and before my mind even registered the decaying arm, I twisted. My hands grabbed the arm trying to wrap around my neck and stayed steady as my entire body pivoted to get to the side of the zombie. Its arm twisted along as I moved, pulling it back at a horrible angle behind the creatures' back. It hissed and snarled as if it felt that pain, but all I did was drive Striker's dagger through it's lower neck and head. The zombie went down and I spun to the next one, knocking it down with a powerful kick. Half of this one's head was already exposed, so I just drove my foot right down onto its half broken skull. The stillness that followed was really quite satisfying. And...wait a second was I...grinning?

A shot went off behind me and (hopefully) the last zombie went down with a bullet in it's face. Lee had shifted back to Aras' form, gun still at the ready. “What took you so long? I thought maybe you left.” She fired off a shot at a zombie coming down the hall. Ok that one was the last of them.

I didn't reply for a second, trying to find my words again. It was almost like I was swimming back up through a murky haze and couldn't quite figure out which way was up. Something further down inside me was saying to just ignore Lee, to keep fighting. No, I couldn't, the zombies were down and I wasn't going to hurt anyone else in this tournament. I had to keep my promise.

“Hey Kit!” Lee called. “You alright in there?”

I winced, and suddenly felt much more like myself again. “Sorry, I got...stuck for a few minutes.”

It wasn't really a lie...just Lee and her characters would hopefully assume I meant as Sammy, and not that I had been overtaken by Striker's instincts. As quickly as I could I shifted back to my own form, trying to shove dark thoughts and feelings back to the pit they belonged. Of course I'd forgotten the gash on my arm courtesy of the zombies. “What happened? …oh my fish I'm bleeding a lot.”

The last part I whispered more to myself than anything, staring at my torn arm. The sight of blood never really bothered me, but I was glad all the same for Lee coming to my side and making me sit for a minute. She had a few wounds of her own, but it looked like being the Sundog had helped her avoid the major ones, I was glad for that.

“I'm not sure.” Ivy admitted through Lee's wristband. “We either triggered a silent alarm I didn't know about, or they just got suspicious and sent those things after us with good timing.”

Lee swore a little, saying some rather unkind things about zombies, and I can't say I disagreed with her. “Thanks...for the help back there.”

I started to reply but our wristbands cut me off, letting out another loud beeping noise followed by the Editor's voice.

“Shanghai Lee you've been located by your opponent, this round is over. Miss Kit is the winner.”

“Wait...what?!” I startled, hardly able to believe I'd forgotten about the rules we had set down and the fact we were both visible among the last few cameras now.

“That doesn't count!” Lee snapped back. “We were getting attacked by zombies!”

“I don't have the time to argue with you two.” The Editor sounded exhausted with us already. “Based on the rules you set down for the round, you've lost. Standby to be escorted to the waiting area until the tournament concludes.”

I saw Lee's face go white and it struck me that one of things she hadn't told me was more details about her previous opponents and what happened to them. She'd mentioned Jay had gotten out through a portal, but also seemed to clam up about the details of what went on during it all. I frowned, seeing how horrified Lee was of whatever she thought (or knew) was coming. My track record over this past round wasn't exactly good, but there was no way I could just leave Lee here alone. So I grabbed Lee's wrist with my less injured hand, and made a break for the staircase at the end of the hall.

“What are you-?!”

“You don't have to help me get to the Publisher but seems like the only safe way to go right now is up!” I grinned back at her as we flew through the door.

Glancing back as it closed I could see some robots, like the one that had shoved Lee into the elevator, rounding the corner. They were fast too, not running fast but they were making good time down the hall.

“The door has got electronic locks, get them activated!” A male voice called from somewhere inside the stairwell, it only took me a second to recognize it.

“Who the hell was that?” Lee shifted back to her own form, and looked around.

“I think I know, let's try the locks!”

Lee's lips pressed together a little, probably not liking the idea of trusting a disembodied voice up the stairwell.

“That's too easy.” Ivy spoke up through the wristband, the telltale sound of a keyboard clicking followed her voice. “I've got it covered.”

“I hope you've got it covered fast Ivy,” Aras added in. “Because I think they're at the door already!”

“Quit breathing down my neck for a second and I'll take care of it!”

“I'll be right back.” I tried to give Lee a reassuring smile, and ran up the first section of stairs and came face to face with Andy.

“Andy!” I hugged him without much thought.

“...What did I tell you about taking Striker's form?” He pushed me off lightly even as I got a little blood on him from my arm. Oops. Somehow Andy had some gauze on him and managed to pull it out as I still kept trying to hug him. He wrapped my arm in a couple of layers, then stashed the remaining roll.

“I didn't have much choice... how did you even know about him being in my head? And how the heck do you keep showing up like this?”

Andy sighed and leveled his face with mine. “Look I knew...because I'm from your head too.”

I stared at him for a long minute. My mind reeling, trying to replay what he'd just said to make sure I'd heard it right. “.....you said what now?”

“You made me, you doofus.” He rolled his eyes. “Don't ask me the specifics, but I guess that invitation you got had some magic from this place or something.”

Andy watched my blank face for a second then continued. “So when you got all stressed out and needed a lift, your mind made up the first thing you figured you needed, and I guess the magic or whatever it is did the rest.”

My brain just about completely shut down at that, I'm amazed I even formed a coherent sentence. The scary thing was, it seemed like an entirely plausible explanation. Especially after experiencing my own personal zombie apocalypse.

“How do you....?”

“Know?” Andy shrugged. “I didn't until last round when I put that wristband on. Some guy started talking to me and told me that. I thought about it and in retrospect it made sense... It's like those zombies, this place and things associated with it, can make fantasy into reality.”

“Wait wait wait...back up...what guy?” I stared at Andy's supposed dummy wristband as an image flashed across it, The Publisher's symbol.

“He says he's the real Publisher.”

“Hello Kit.” A voice came to life over the wristband. ”I'm afraid I could use some help taking back my facility”